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Edwards Plans Stock Split After Run-Up

Irvine heart valve maker Edwards Lifesciences Corp. plans to split its stock after its shares have risen more than 70% in the past year.

The company said Monday it plans to do a 2-for-1 stock split on May 27 in which shares holders will receive one additional share for each one they own.

The move will cut the price of Edwards’ stock, now at about $100, by half.

Edwards had a recent market value of $5.8 billion.

Companies often do stock splits to make it easier for their stock to rise in value from a lower price. Splits also tend to attract more investors.

The “decision to split the stock will help improve its liquidity and trading volume, which better positions us for the bright future we see ahead,” Chief Executive Michael Mussallem said.

Edwards’ shares outstanding are set to go from 57 million now to 114 million with the split.

The move comes as an analyst downgraded Edwards in part because of its pricey stock.

Duane Nash of Wedbush Securities said in a report to clients that Edwards’ shares are expensive compared to other medical device makers.

He changed his rating on Edwards to “underperform” from “neutral.”

Nash also revived long running speculation that Edwards could be acquired, but not until mid-2011 at the earliest.

That’s when Edwards expects data from a U.S. trial of a new type of heart valve.

Much of the rise in the company’s stock in the 12 months has come on small but growing European sales of its Sapien valve, which is inserted via a catheter and doesn’t require open heart surgery.

Sapien and a rival valve from Medtronic Inc.’s Irvine-based CoreValve are seen as the biggest development in the business in years.

Edwards, which got into transcatheter valves through its purchase of New Jersey’s Percutaneous Valve Technologies Inc. in late 2003, is considered to have a head start on Medtronic.

Medtronic, which bought Irvine-based startup CoreValve Inc. in 2009, isn’t expected to commercialize its valve in the U.S. until the middle of the decade.

Both valves are sold in Europe.

Edwards is hoping for Food and Drug Administration approval in late 2011.

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